Navarra

GIVEN VOICE TO THE HIDDEN HERITAGE (ONCE AGAIN)

Here we are. This is one of the main goals at Patrimonio para jóvenes. Hidden heritage, small beauties, not very important, not big enough to be visited by big tourist groups. But a heritage belonging to a village, a people, an identity.

We have travelled at Larraya, at least twice.

ON THE ROAD TO EUROPEAN HERITAGE DAYS 2019

This year the slogan is Art and Entertainment.On the website of the European Heritge Days you can find more information about it. Here are some ideas: “Will be exciting to witness diverse European cultural traditions share a collective stageate the 2019 European Heritage Days. From street shows to concert halls, traditional theaters and museums to modern cinema and digital art, entertainment heritage of Europe will play out on local, national and European stages for visitors and guests of all ages to enjoy.The all-encompassing theme will include sports, photography, tourism, circus, fairs, visual arts, cinema, radio, and television among other entertainment-inspired art forms”

Here you can see us wtih local sport as ” pelota’, music, and the architecture as the satge and meeting point.

A MEDIEVAL PORTICO AS A STAGE

First of all, this small church and its protico must be known. Musicians from Pamplona Jazz orchestra visited first the place. We remembered one of the functions of “porticos”: a place of entertainment.( The main functions were liturgical, morturary and also as a meeting point for the village council)

After the concert, we had a visit to the inside of the church. Today restored, it conserves a nice atmosphere given by the Romanic architecture. San Roman of Larraya is cute and peaceful.

Its so nice the tabernacle, done in Renaissance style.

AND HERE WE ARE AT THE FROTON

Nothing better than this to share and promote the ludic aspects of heritage. A fronton beside a church. Places where a community is gathered for prays and games Juan Barriola, one of the people in charge of Pelota Club of Ardoi, is very concerned about protecting frontones with its original function.

AND A PALACE

A palace “cabo de armería” typical from Navarra. It was so nice the chat with its owners Martin and Visi. They tell stories, memories, and so on , that everything concludes on alive heritage

THE VALUE OF THE LANDSCAPE

The landscape as heritage itself. The place where architecture and art in general are located.

Larraya in spring time has a soft aspect, relaxing, green. A kind of small English countryside.

Even the cats look as if they were very interested in all the show there

AND IF YOU ARE IN SPAIN, DON’T FORGET TORTILLA DE PATATA

Tortilla, red wine, chorizo and all of the famous typical tapas or pinchos from our country.

A good way to enjoy conversation and the friendly people of Larraya. Once more, remember, the heritage is alive when is visited.. The video by Clara Frago , here

On A glass and in full color: Learn,Engage, Enjoy. This was the proposal written in the entrance of the Ryan Learning Center of the Chicago Art Institute. Those three words marked me. I found them superb, because it also matches perfectly with a recurrent phrase here at Patrimonio para jóvenes : “Art is not a subject, it’s an experience”.

2018 is the European Year of Cultural Heritage, and this occasion demanded a special homage, and there’s nothing better than letting Clara Frago talk to us through her camera.

The #Meztuelviaje Video: What For?

To link the painting with the painted landscape (the Sorian countryside) and the landscape with traditional costumes.

To let these links turn into creativity. There had to be a speech, an original script. Telling the story of someone visiting a museum had no special interest. However, if those visits appear by the strength of the paintings, if these works are the ones dragging the observer until merging into the piece of art, the whole story changes.

To turn creativity into an ambassador of cultural heritage.

The story of this video takes us to two museums, one in Navarre, the other in Bilbao, and to the surprising Sorian village of Calatañazor. Showing you these places is our way to invite you to visit them.

FEW RESOURCES TURN INTO A CHALLENGE

A simple camera was all our equipment. A simple camera, but a great team

#Maeztuelviaje its a perfect example of the wit, creativity and expertise that represent Clara Frago Daza’s work.

We rooted for her four years ago, when she was still a student at the Communications Faculty of the University of Navarre. Now she has become a professional and her work never disappoints.

This Project has taken tons of hours from her. Despite the trips were long, they were the most entertaining part. The hardest challenge was to sit down and think how to tell this story.

AN EXPERIENCE THAT GATHERS PEOPLE

#Meztuelviaje was recorded between February and May, with many small obstacles such as rain, storms and winds. Against all odds, the Project could move on, also thanks to the collaboration of many people.

Camino Paredes, director of the Gustavo de Maeztu Museum and Eneritz Guillen Monasterio from the Communication department of the Beaux-Arts Museum of Bilbao. In both museums, they made everything easy for us to record its interiors.

While in Soria, Enrique Borobio went one afternoon to Calatañazor with his complete collection of Sorian costumes. We couldn´t help dressing Juan Roldán just as the Blindman of Calatañazor.

Due to obvious protection and preservation reasons, we couldn´t use the original robes from the Museum of the Sorian Traditional Costume. They’re very antique, and their handling is extremely delicate. Enrique gave us a lesson about the importance of preserving while spreading knowledge about these treasures.

Juan Roldán: Architect and fearless collaborator. In January we asked him if he would be interested on an acting career, he didn´t hesitate on saying yes, so now he was just expecting Clara’s instructions.

Marta Castaño and Miguel Mirón joined them and enjoyed the Castilla experience.

They enjoyed of the beautiful landscape and a delicious breakfast while being delighted with the gorgeous views.

I am pretty sure none og the mis going to forget that work of Gustavo de Maeztu.

They will always have the Sorian landscape and characters from Vozmediano and Calatañazor. As the time goes by, we’ll go back to this video and we will revive all this moments and experiences.

Because of Another Visit

In January 2017, we had a walk along the First Expansion of Pamplona. While preparing that activity, I read, observed and looked with a different view to this area of the town that can be misunderstood. Building created in the end of the XIXth century and the beginning of the XXth century get mixed, confused and almost hidden among taller, more modern and more impressive buildings. I found out details that I’d never seen before. And during the visit, all the people made the exact same comment: I had never seen this before. This topic awakened so much interest that it was a must to pull its thread..

Photography as a Way

We started everything to prepare a photography exposition that fulfilled two of the main goals of Patrimonio para Jóvenes. On one side, to spread awareness about art and cultural heritage. On the other hand, to promote the work of young professionals. On November we started the search of the appropriate place. It had to be big, easy to be seen by pedestrians and inside or at least, close enough to the First Expansion.

We proposed the setting of this exposition to many entities. In the end, the idea worked for La Caixa, so we started working

Working During Christmas

Since the first weeks of December, Clara Frago re-visited this houses that she had saved in pictures back in the day. Now, more calmly, by her own and focused only on her camera lens, trying to catch the spirit, almost magic of this buildings and its entrances. We´d like to thank to the Chamber of Commerce, the Residence of the Repairing Mothers and the Joaquín Maya School of Music for all the facilities they gave us for taking pictures of its interiors, ot from their Windows and terraces to take pictures from the heights.

At the beginning of January, Clara Frago presented her work in La Caixa. As it was expected, the exposition absolutely charmed the public. Now you still have a chance to delight yourself with her photographs from March 1st to April 15th in the Carlos III avenue in Pamplona.

The Expositive Design of Juan Roldán Marzo

What story do we want to tell with these pictures and how can we do it? This exposition is an invite for you to observe, to discover hidden details and rejoice among them. This feeling of joy and relaxation can´t be achieved with stridency. The exhibition space of La Caixa does not admit an exhibit in color. Therefore, the pictures are displayed in black and wihite, also like a reminiscence of past times.

Another issue: Pictures can´t disturb workers and clients. The solution? Have them hanged in panels by a transparent thread that gives the effect of having the pictures floating in the air.

An additional element for the whimsical environment we want to create. This way, the observer will see doors that invite them to go in, stairs asking to be climbed, windows that work as threshold to a world of portals, peepholes and even more windows.

How was this arrangement decided? Through some trails in an A5 printing of the same images that would be presented in a bigger format.

A GREAT JOB WITH A GREAT TEAM

For many months, Juan Roldán and Clara Frago have worked throughly, thoughtfully paying attention to every little detail. For Patrimonio para Jóvenes it is such a delight to set up this exhibition. We give our sincere thanks to La Caixa for trusting in our association, Juan and Clara. We hope this becomes an opportunity for all the clients and people go pass by this area to be amazed by the details of the precious architectonic heritage of the First Expansion of Pamplona, this shy urban development before the demolition of the walls. Knowing about it, is the best way to preserve it.

Estella needs more than one day. Perhaps if you are a pilgrim on the Way to Saint James, you will arrive there tired after walking for hours. You would be astonished by the view of the landscape and the fantastic streets at the old town, the palaces, and the stunning church of San Pedro de la Rua with its magnificent scales. Some years ago, the team of Patrimonio para Jóvenes visited this church, the cloister and even the bell tower.

Today our visit is just in front of this church: The Gustavo de Maeztu Museum. Read all the information about this museum here.

THE REHEARSAL

Before the visit, I travelled first to meet Camino Paredes, the lady in charge of the museum and Natalia Gentico, the tour guide. Even with the photographer, Clara Frago, we had a brainstorming session in order to find a really cool way of getting in touch with the artwork.

We even prepared carefully the flyer. Here you can see Clara Frago, during, let’s say… the making of:

And here is the result of the label we delivered during some days before.

The visit

Natalia explained us in a very friendly way the life of Gustavo de Maeztu, his journeys, family circumstances and how they had influenced on Maeztu’s way of painting. We even had time for humor with games that keep the people engaged. As an example, we imitated the posture of some of the characters on the canvas.

Another game was to listen to the music when looking at a painting. For “Evening Party” Natalia invited us to listen and see the video on Youtube: Blur to the end. You can have a look to the painting and you can listen to the music here:

This visit to the Gustavo de Maeztu Museum is just the beginning of a story: we are working on a video with the idea #Maeztuthejourney . A trip of imagination and engagement not only with the paintings but with the characters, its history and even the landscape.

We finished the morning, with the typical Spanish “tapas” and with a friendly chat.

If you come to Estella, in Navarra, don’t forget to visit this museum.

The European Heritage Days.

The activity I will present today takes place in a little historical village of Navarra with an amazing landscape as well: Gallipienzo.. The idea of a mixture between contemporary fashion and tradition has been taken from the proposal of the European heritage days. #EHDs is a joint program by European Commission and the Council of Europe.

Here we have the textual proposal for this year:

“In this year’s edition of the #EHDs we are celebrating the intrinsic relationship between people and nature under the common theme: “Heritage and Nature: A Landscape of Possibilities”. Emphasis is given to heritage values embodied in nature and to the extent to which the environment shapes people’s lives and lifestyles and its contribution to their well-being and socio-economic prosperity. The events taking place in urban nature sites, historic gardens, national reserves, home yards, national parks, heritage biotopes, protected areas, every day and outstanding landscape will help people to connect to nature and explore its diversity and cultural values.”

“A Landscape of Possibilities”

At the old village of Gallipienzo, two dreams came true. The first, where this event took place: the Heredad Beragu Hotel. It is a business based on the respect of history, landscape, and its surroundings. It is ideal for people interested in cultural heritage and nature. Moreover, the hotel employs people from the village, so by creating jobs, the hotel helps to avoid depopulation, a great problem in small and old villages in Spain.

The second dream emerged from the inspiration in the landscape of Gallipienzo and the location of the hotel itself: a new winter collection of bags by the BeiA team. Some days ago, I wrote on this blog about BeiA, a brand of hand bags by Beatriz Azanza and Ainhoa Arriazu.Their design is based on folklore. But this time, their creations are based on the landscape.

The Meeting:

With the assistance of a good number of people, Bea and Ainhoa explained all the creation process for the new models. Shapes,colors and textures. It’s also very usual on these handbags to see arbutus as an ornament.

All the explanations were followed in a very friendly atmosphere. This time, the public was not only formed by young people but by the grandparents of the designers and old people from the village too. Fashion designers, and specialists in the textile industry joined us.

After the chat, we had a nice snack with Spanish tortilla and some typical foods from Spain as well and wine and refreshments. People had also the chance to have a walk around the village and experience the atmosphere of old times.

If you want to read more about Gallpienzo click on here and read about our visit last year. You can also enjoy the pictures on the website of the hotel and even on our profiles on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

A perfect excursion on Spring Time

Even in Autumn, walking to the highest of the hill, to the Castle of Monjardin is not difficult at all. Almost four kilometers in an easy and well marked road. The problem could be the rain, or the weather extremes from very cold to too much heat. Nothing of this happened to us. We enjoyed a very nice day for walking. Not hot, not cold. Just perfect.

Villamayor de Monjardín

A nice village on the way of Saint James, is in the middle of very important places such as Estella or Los Arcos, with its stunning baroque church of Santa Maria. Due to this, and the exhaustion of pilgrims when walking, Villamayor has the risk of being taken for granted.

Even more; people living in Pamplona can pass close to Villamayor, just in a rush by car going to Logroño or to any other place without bothering. So many times I listened to people saying,; Oh what a castle is on the top of the hill, but they never stop and visit the village .

A Castle with history

There remains just a little part of the original castle, but it’s an important place due to a fact: There, the King Sancho Garcés the first of Pamplona, fought against the Muslims. As a result, the history of Navarra changed. Here you can see us sitting down close to the sculpture of the King Sancho Garcés .

I’m looking for some information in English about this castle, but I’m sorry , I can’t find anything in English, so here you have a link in Spanish. The only link I’ve found is one with information for an albergue. It’s nice to have this information but I’m a little disappointed to find only this and nothing about the history or the heritage of this little as well as important village

Vineyard and a cute church

Walking around Villamayor de Monjardin is possible to enjoy the way with the views of a nice landscape of vineyards. This view is going to be with you during days if you are walking to Santiago. Villamayor is near to La Rioja. La Rioja is one of the famous regions in Spain where a great wine is produced.

The church of Saint Andres is made in a late Romanesque, going to Gothic Art. A church that’s always open, pilgrims can have time for praying in their way. Some Saturdays you can also come across some wedding.

Our visit to the church was not very long, we had to climb to the castle.

Anyway we paid attention to the beauty of the cross of Monjardin, a great workshop of silver working.Here you have a nice photo by Julio Asunción

An excuse to think how easy we can miss important things in our tours, just because we are in hurry, or just because we paid attention to big things. Not always big is the same than the best.

A nice day, a nice excursion, time to talk about ruins, rehabilitation, history and think about our way of visiting places.

Summer is coming, it’s a good time to enjoy walks, heritage, good food and friends.

Traveling to Pamplona

People from Navarra, the cities of Cuenca, Madrid and Miranda de Ebro had already visited Pastrana. Now it’s time for the “ alcarreños” . Young people from this region have to go to Pamplona. It demands you to be open to new people, new experiences, and a lot of personal will. It is much more than a “like” on Facebook.

What do you know about Pamplona and Navarra? Probably Sanfermines- the universal festival where bulls run on streets- but nothing else

The Paradox of Cliché

In a world linked by internet, social networks, with thousands and thousands of pictures broadcasted at minute, there is still ignorance about your own country. The people from Pastrana have only listened about a festival. International, famous, great, but it takes place just in a week. There are much more things happening in Navarra during the year.

Moreover, the people from Pamplona knew nothing about Pastrana. They didn’t even know about the existence of this place.

It is urgent to become aware of our heritage, culture, geography…

The Choice of an Itinerary

Pastraneros came just for a weekend. So we needed to offer a nice, entertaining, not very long tour, but at least, something that gave them some idea about Navarra. Here’s the choice: The Way of St James (Pamplona is the first Spanish city on the way), old walls, gardens and gastronomy

What a Green Color !

That’s what they said after a first glance of Pamplona. Spring, a great rain the week before they came and the sun, made gardens burst into a great splendor of colors.

We walked through Yamaguchi Park, Vuelta del Castillo, Ciudadela, Old Town (including the “encierro” itinerary), the well-known White Horse, and the famous Café Iruña. A complete walk around the heart of the city

Saturday Morning

Walking again through the city, we visited the Walls Interpretation Center. It’s a great, nice place where everybody can learn about Pamplona’s history and its walls while having a lot of fun with all the videos and interactive games it has. In addition, the great landscape all around made the visit even more interesting and easy going.

Later, we had a visit to one of the most important altarpieces from the Renaissance at Pamplona. The one of the church of San Miguel. It was done for the Cathedral, but long history-short, today it’s in this different place.

“An Essential Spring Event in Navarra “

Known also as “Semana del Pincho” (Tapas week), this event is about gastronomy, especially “tapas” in Pamplona called “Pinchos”

Luckily for the Pastrana team, this ‘Semana del Pincho” was celebrated during the time of their visit. There was no better way to finish our morning cultural visit that in a bar with the “pinchos”. Here you can see Amalia enjoying one of them

The Afternoon at Puente La Reina

Have you ever walked through the way of Saint James? Perhaps you can remember Puente La Reina, 25 kms away from Pamplona. A nice village, not very far from the city that happens to be a very interesting place on” The Camino”. A lovely walk, nice talks, new friends. Now the people from Pastrana know that Navarra is much more than sanfermines. And people from Navarra know Pastrana exits

Last day. A Sunday Morning in Ororbia

This story about keeping in touch with the people of Pastrana, has a lot to do with the event of Patrimonio para Jóvenes in October, “Fashion at the San Julian de Ororbia altarpiece” So it was a great end for the first visit of our new friends, there. In Ororbia.

We visited the alterpiece, had a little talk with Tere and Miguel, elderly people from the village. The encounter between different generations is always enrichening for us.

We also visited an old washing site that was restored six years ago. A cute place that remember old jobs close to the rivers.

There is much more to be done

It was a great experience. An exchange focused on young people and heritage. Patrimonio para Jóvenes is always moving, opening new roads, exploring ideas, talking to people. With the desire of keeping this going, improving, and helping all of the people who read us.

What could Castilla La Mancha and Navarra have in common? Is it possible for some kids from Pamplona to have any interest on visiting a small location in the Alcarria region, more specifically, the town of Pastrana? And why would visitors from Pastrana would come to Pamplona in such a weird season as the middle of April?

Let’s organize all these ideas first. The common link between Navarra and Pastrana is a pipe organ. Yes, as you read, since the pipe organ from Pastrana was built by Domingo de Mendoza, a Navarre from the School of Lerín.

More curious facts: Both the parish church of San Román de Arellano, in Navarra, and the Cathedral of Sigüenza, share many decorative coincidences. I invite you to take a look to the parish of Arellano here

Arellano

What Unites Us Today

However, the biggest link between Pamplona and Pastrana, and the reason of this strong relationship, is pure affection. This friendship was born through an exchange between Patrimonio para Jóvenes and the Association of Ladies and Gentlemen from Pastrana. They are the soul of the annual ducal festival of this town, as well as the stars of the theatrical visits that are held on the first Saturday of every month

Summary of our Shared History

One day while exploring different social networks, I discovered the account of the Tapestry Museum of Pastrana. It caught my attention immediately, so I got in touch with them as soon as I could. What a lovely surprise it was to find out they are an amazing group of people. That kind of people that motivates you to visit their hometown. Besides, I had already heard about Pastrana, because of the story of Ana de Mendoza y de la Cerda, Princess of Eboli and Duchess of Pastrana.

As I put the Tapestry Museum on my pending list, I started to run the project about fashion in the altarpiece of San Julián de Ororbia in Navarre, with the help of Consuelo Sanz de Bremond Lloret. And well, I found out that Consuelo happens to be very close to Celia Alegre, one of the participants of the ducal festival in Pastrana.

9 AM and 22º C:

Summer. August. Madrid. It’s 9 in the morning and the day promises to be burning hot. However, this is the only day I have to visit Pastrana, so I don’t think about it twice. The fresh air running through the ducal palace, the parish church and the Tapestry museum soothe the heat. And so does the great treatment I am receiving.

It is an absolutely interesting place. To make the Navarre boys and girls get there is almost impossible. So I write down on my notes “Pastrana is extraordinary. But impossible to include on my list of places to visit”.

Impossible?

As I saw how the chances to organize a visit or an activity vanished, I wrote to Celia in order to propose a collaborative post. The kids from Pastrana had to send me their pictures, write and tell about what they do during the ducal festival and the theatrical visits. They did it. And suddenly, it happened: Pastrana. You can remember this activity here:

So Celia Alegre had an idea…

In order to discuss some issues about that post, I met Celia in Madrid on December, having a cup of coffee near Moncloa on a Christmas´ Eve morning. That’s when I told her that we won’t make it to Pastrana due to distance, a lack of direct transportation and additional costs like hotels and such. In conclusion, because of time, money and interests, a visit to Pastrana clashed against the main characteristics of Patrimonio para Jóvenes. We had to understand that both the kids from Pastrana as well as from Pamplona aren’t retired seniors willing to spend a lot of money and time in cultural activities. But Celia didn’t give up, and used her wildcard: an exchange

The Exchange

This meant we had to set a timetable and, in the case of having underage visitors, we had to let their parents meet each other, for them to coordinate and approve the trip of their children. It was January and everything was already going pretty well. The first weekend of April, the people from Pamplona, with some friends from Cuenca and Víctor Choza from Madrid as a photographer, would go to Pastrana, and the next weekend the pastraneros would come to visit us.

Speechless

The coordination to pick up the people from Atocha, and Víctor from the university (poor Víctor had just finished a final exam) was excellent. As soon as they arrived to Pastrana they tried out the costumes. By the next day, our people were pastraneros who were right in the middle of the guided visits as part of the staff, involved in their presentation, being part of the place.

It was Patrimonio para Jóvenes at its purest. Add to the experience the Alcarrian food, the visit to the Tapestry Museum and the Carmelite Convent as well as the long walks and longer talks with their hosts.

Getting Involved

That might be our key to success. We open our houses, spend our time and give our biggest efforts in order to offer a unique experience to the participants. We get involved so all the art and cultural heritage they discover remain in their memory as an exceptional experience, rather than vanish as useless facts.

In order to turn this dream into reality, we need tons of people. Generous people willing to help others without expecting some kind of reward, people with true love for their heritage, their history and their homeland. Just like the guys from Pastrana.

Pastrana is not only not imposible to reach, but it has become one of the best experiences of our association. Does anybody remember the “Adventure in the Mudéjar of Aragón”? Their protagonists will never forget it, and that will happen to the visitors of Pastrana.

Now I would love to tell you about the visit of the pastraneros to Pamplona… But that will be saved for the next post.

A special walk

Discovering the old town of Pamplona can be done in one day, one morning, even in just one hour. Everything depends on the amount of time and interest you may have. It is very possible that anyone who discovers the city and walks up the Curia street, when arriving to the White Horse, stays a long, very long time there, especially if the weather helps. Enjoy the views and the Mesón, open to Pamploneses as well as to outsiders. You can check the website of the inn here.

It’s fair to say that the boroughs of Pamplona/Iruña well deserve a close visit. To know more about this topic, click here and take a look, there is even a bar called the burgos of Iruña. This is your web to go.

We dedicated one morning to the Burgo de San Cernin. And we did it in a special way, gazing at it from the heights.

A rooftop at Ansoleaga Street

A friend of mine told me that the views from her rooftop were beautiful, and I didn’t think about it twice. I asked her to let me in with the kids in order to see San Saturnino from an unusual perspective. From there St. Cernin, as this church is also known, majestically imposed above the city.

Contemplating face to face the roofs of the building of the current library of the Plaza de San Francisco was another gift of that morning. It was once the building of “The Agricultural” as an initiative of the Banking and Insurance Society of the same name.

Afterwards, we admired the Grand Hotel, an imposing building, with history, a public library where we entered today and possibly left without asking about the origin of the property.

Seeing the beautiful courtyard of the Chamber of Comptos from the heights was also a huge delight. A privileged venue to look at this place and briefly review the history of the building.

A book by Fermín Erbiti

“The Chamber of Comptos. Stories Of The Oldest House In Pamplona And Its Surroundings”is a magnificent book. With 163 pages and many photographs, it narrates in a pleasant way the interesting trajectory of the building of the Chamber of Comptos, the institution as such, and many anecdotes of the whole environment. That book served as a guide to make this visit. I recommend everyone to read this. The multiple and varied uses of the oldest civil building in Pamplona, a disappeared palace that used to be where we now see the backs of the Hotel Maisonnave, include the history of a chacolí, the seat of the Pamplona orfeón and many more curiosities can be read in this entertaining and well-documented work of Erbiti.

The church of San Cernin

Also known as the church of San Saturnino in Pamplona. This visit was also very peculiar. Above all, it consisted of comparing the Gothic church with the Barroque chapel. What did you notice? Did you observe differences between one space and another?

What does each one suggest to you? It was a way of approaching the Gothic and the Barroque from an experience and a personal observation. In general, everyone preferred the Gothic style.

An opportunity for photography

It was a great day for Borja Centenera. He was able to take advantage and get into those nooks only suitable for photographers. All the images he captured are beautiful and mesmerizing. Another opportunity to experience in photography, to be amazed while exploring spaces.

Finish on the cover

After visiting the church, we took advantage of the end of our visit, with less people in the street to appreciate the cover in detail. All of them noticed something they had not noticed other times: the remains of polychrome on the stone figures. It invites us to imagine how color must have been in so many medieval temples.

We finished the morning, recovering strength enjoying a few pintxos. Content and certainly surprised by everything that a city tells us about itself. And from now on we have a commitment: to listen, to observe and walk slowly through its streets without assuming that we already know everything.

There can always be surprises. Always. I invite you to walk slowly around Pamplona and each and every one of the cities in which you live and from where you read me. Happy day.

On Saturday March 25 we had the pleasure of receiving Esther Elizalde among us. At the informal dinner, she talked about the demolition of the walls of Pamplona. ({Part of the walls. Thank Good we still have some beautiful walls).

Mrs. Elizalde did her doctoral thesis on this subject. Nevertheless, her speech was not a technical one, just for engineers, architects or historians. Her achievement goes way beyond these people: as a high school teacher, she knows how to deal with any kind of public. And indeed, Esther offered a great biographical note from the people living at the beginning of the 20th Century in Pamplona. She perfectly transmitted the fears, hopes, difficulties and anecdotes from the time of our great-grandfathers. So we were listening about the human side of the walls.

” First Ensanche” of Pamplona

For those who at the beginning of January went to the visit to the “First Ensanche” of Pamplona, this talk became more interesting. They had experienced the fist area built with the goal of giving people from Pamplona a little more space, but it was not enough at all. Moreover, it was only for very well off people.

One of the facts that made the dinner so interesting was the amount of pictures brought from the municipal archive of Pamplona that we had the chance to enjoy.

The pity, as always happens with informal dinners and talks; was that there was not way to display a great number of pictures from the activity on the blog .

On behalf of the people who joined us that day, I want to thank Esther for coming. She had the kindness of attending us coming to Pamplona from Zaragoza and spending her free time of a Saturday evening with students and young professionals of Patrimonio para Jóvenes.